carl first, I have never been a big fan of two stg condensers AC or HP because of the price and marginal comfort and operating cost improvement. the main exception would be in a zoning application with zoning controls. the XL15i HP is one of the best sgl stg condensers on the market. there are two major reasons I like the XL15i pumps. this winter, the Atlantic states, South and Southeast were hit by major snow/ice storms. The XL15i has Trane's proprietary top which helps the condenser fan from freezing up. There were a lot of HPs that were simply overwhelmed by these storms and had to go to straight emergency electric backup. And then there is "electronic demand defrost" feature which eliminates unnecessary and nuisance defrost calls unlike time/temp defrost. I do recommend a staged heat strip. I know Trane has two sizes, a 7/12 KW and a 10/15 KW. You want a stat that has "dehumidify on demand" feature like HW VisionPro IAQ. as I have said before, good equipment, good install, good ductwork system will make a happy homeowner. I refer you back to my checklist from your other threads. using an old thermostat on either of these systems is a mistake. you want a stat that has "DOD" feature. IMO Good Luck!

What part of the country do you live in? I do know that a 2-stage compressor will give more efficient humidity control when running longer at low stage. I'll let the pros weigh in with more. But, I can comment on the Infinity-Performance mix because we have had that for almost 2 yrs now. It works great for humidity removal and for comfort. BUT, you should insist on the Infinity Control with it, not the Thermidistat. The Infinity gives you the "cool to dehumidify" feature, plus better diagnostics. That 'dehumidify feature' takes full advantage of the VS motor and electronics of the Infinity furnace. Bottom line as a homeowner is do you want to spend the extra to go all Infinity.

Your post is a little confusing. It is not clear which equipment is for the first floor and which is the second floor. I think it is this: 1st floor: Comfortmaker G114000075-12M Rheem Classic X - RPKA030jaz 2nd floor: Rheem Criterion II - 80 afue Amana Distinctions - CKL24-IL - 1.5 ton There is nothing wrong with having one furnace be a single stage, and the other furnace being a 2-stage. The multiple stages are for comfort. A variable speed furnace will allow you get a more efficient AC. This would be attractive for your hot summers. If you are going to have only one 2-stage furnace, then it should be the one you use the most. I would think that would be the first floor furnace. You have mismatched equipment which means the efficiency is unknown. The proposed furnaces seem oversized. It could be these are the smallest sizes Rheem offers, or the smallest with the required blowers for the AC. I think the Rheem Classic X - RPKA030jaz is a 2.5 ton heat pump. The proposal is to replace it with a 1.5 ton unit. Did the contractor do a Manual J calculation to confirm the sizes?

Thanks for the feedback. I had to talk them into selling me the 2-stage compressor unit, so they weren't trying to up sell me very hard, which is usually a good thing. I asked multiple times about it being set up to run both stage on heat and AC and was told it would, seems it won't the way currently configured on the AC side, and not the most effective use of it on the heat side. If I re-run a 8 conductor wire from T-Stat to furnace, how many conductors should I have running out to the AC compressor?